Main Interview
Fairly early on at university , Philip Ashton developed an interest in machine learning technology . “ I went on to work at Oliver Wyman , an international management consulting firm that operates in a number of industries . Much of what they do is data-driven , in that data is used to drive software , processes and strategy . I worked in a range of industries and without fail , an element of the supply chain was inextricably linked with data . Following Oliver Wyman ’ s acquisition of World Courier , I moved across to that arm of the business and got more directly involved in supply chain and logistics ,” Phil begins .
“ I was given free rein to deep dive into data-driven processes , and my findings were pretty surprising . I was looking at topend companies right through to one-man bands , and the thread of commonality was a collective struggle with trying to make the various disjointed components of a supply chain work together in a sensible way . The underlying reason in every case was insufficient data and the inability to use it in a cohesive manner .
“ I started looking closely at World Courier but quickly realized there would be a conflict of interest . As a Third-Party Logistics ( 3PL ) provider itself , with its own capacity to fulfil , findings may not have necessarily been aligned with the needs of its customers . As a result , it felt more appropriate for me to go it alone and test the environment from an unbiased position ; the idea being to research the sector , report back to logistics suppliers , and find solutions that enable coherent data-driven processes .”
That was the starting point for 7bridges . Along with Matei Beremski , Phil founded 7bridges to create powerful change through supply chains and software .
He continues : “ We went out and found a few lighthouse customers to prove that this was an industry-wide issue , and as a result , we saw the same
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